Week 1, Winter Term 2020
Dear Families,
Welcome back to Scotch Residential Life for Winter Term. I am sure that we are all very much looking forward to a much more normal term. I trust you have had a restful break and are ready for an activity-filled term at Scotch. We particularly keep the Year 12’s in mind this term as they prepare for their final big push towards graduation and, with that in mind, a very happy birthday to Angus Johnston today who is celebrating his 18th birthday!
Thank you to the parents who made it to Perth for our Parent Sundowner evening at the end of last term. It was fantastic meeting so many of you in a casual environment and the vibe of the evening was very special. Thank you for making Kate and myself feel so welcome into Residential Life at Scotch. I also extend a big thank you to the parents who were able to make the Residential Parent Support Group meeting in the afternoon beforehand, we had a great chat about ways in which we can improve Scotch boarding, both in Swanbourne and also out in your communities. Please feel free to get in contact with feedback at any time to either myself, your Residential Head of Year of Residential Life Admin. We are very grateful for your constant support of Residential Life at Scotch and we are dedicated to providing the best possible service to boys and parents.
Whilst Western Australia continues to be in a very fortunate position with our COVID-19 response at the moment, it is important to know that we aren’t fully out of the woods yet and our boarding community needs to be particularly cautious due to the close nature of our living arrangements. Most restrictions on boys’ Leave and Recreation activities have been lifted to align with WA Health Department advice, however, we still have a few things in place. Firstly, we continue to require the Host to approve of a Terms and Conditions document through the REACH system when applying to take boys out on Day Leave or Overnight Leave. This can be quite clunky in practice due to the email chain that it creates, however, we feel that it is still necessary for hosts to acknowledge that caring for boarders and then returning them to a full boarding house is something that we need an extra layer of vigilance around. It makes it particularly important for our Residential Heads of Year that Leave requests are put submitted early in the week so we have as much time as possible to help families and hosts work through the process. Also, if parents are hesitant about allowing permission for their boys to go on Recreation activities and are cautious about allowing their sons to, for example, mingle with students from other schools, then please let us know of your concerns by contacting ResidentialLife.Admin@scotch.wa.edu.au . Otherwise, we will continue to go with WA Health advice and this will mean that we will start to open up our Recreation activities much more. A couple of events to note in particular is a Year 9/10 visit to MLC this weekend and also the upcoming Year 11/12 Boarder’s Ball with PLC. At this stage, even though the WA government allows it, I am not quite comfortable with our boys heading to Perth Stadium en masse as a recreation activity, however, I respect family decisions in the event that you want to take your son to the football. Social distancing and good hygiene practices are still our best cover for communicable illnesses.
It has been fantastic to have our Bibbulmun Track walks back. The Year 10’s and Year 11’s have been out this week and we have heard some good stories and been sent through some fantastic photos from Mr Keatch and Mr Miolin. These photos, and others, are starting to get posted much more regularly onto Vidigami, which parents can access easily through the home.scotch.wa.ed.au website. It is a way that we can keep trying to give families feedback on how the boys are going whilst living in their “home away from home” at Scotch. There are some great photos of the boys around the house, at sport and on the Bibby. This is something we want to continue to do for our families in boarding and I thank the House Mothers and Heads of Year in particular for their efforts to take photos of the boys. If you are attending events for our boys and take some boarding photos, please send them through and we can add them to Vidigami and our regular newsletter.
I am thrilled to announce that the Headmaster, Dr O’Connell and myself will be doing a Tour of the Wheatbelt region this term from the 31st August – 3rd September and holding three functions, in Northam, Merredin, and Dalwallinu. We would love to see you there if you are in the area and please help us to spread the word to friends and families who might be considering boarding schools for their sons. We hope to meet a mixture or current, past and future families and help to build our community within the regions. It is really important to us to visit families in their local areas. Later in the Term, myself and Mr David Kyle and our wives will be visiting Carnarvon to hold a function there on Thursday 10th September and we are looking forward to visiting our families up in the Gascoyne over that weekend.
Speaking of Carnarvon families, we are honoured to have Mrs Chris Higham visit us on Thursday 19thAugust to present our coveted SPIRIT Award for Scotch Boarding. SPIRIT stands for Sparkle, Passion, Imagination, Resilience, Integrity and Tenacity and is in honour of OSC Lachie Higham who is tragically lost his life whilst he was a Year 10 boarder at the College. The qualities listed above are the qualities that Lachie personified and the award is symbolic of the values we hold in Residential Life at Scotch. Each Head of year nominate a few boys who display these qualities and the Residential Life Management Team discuss the nominations and end up choosing a worthy winner.
Finally, I would like to extend an invitation to any parents who are in town at any stage to please feel welcome to join us for dinner in the dining hall. We would love to see you there. If you can let us know before time so that we can alert catering, that is ideal, however, there is always plenty of food to go around and we would love to see you there sharing a meal with your son, his friends, and our staff.
Kind regards
Jordan
Bib Track – Year 10’s & 11’s
Our Year 10’s and 11’s return this afternoon after a wet and challenging walk. Mr Keatch said the first night was blustery and wet and their kits were drenched. They eventually dried out, but it was a very wet walk. He also said they were a resilient bunch and the best he has walked with! Orson and Kody proved to be too loud on the track, so Mr Keatch gave them a challenge – to not talk for 3 hours and they could have KFC. The boys accepted the challenge and everyone got KFC on the way back. A huge of achievement for our boys, congratulations.
Marching is back!!
It was wonderful to hear the pipe band and the thump of boys marching past my window this morning. I have missed it.
Year 10 Breakfast – Back to Boarding
It was early!!
Parent Sundowner
Wonderful evening of fun and laughter.
Scotch on the Road 2020
Dr Alec O’Connell and Jordan Owenell will be touring the Wheatbelt region at the end of August. They will be holding functions for current, past and prospective families within our School community and promoting Residential Life at Scotch.
31st August – Northam
Temperance Bar
7:00pm – 9:00pm
1st September – Merredin
Tivoli Room, Cummins Theatre (TBC)
7:00pm – 9:00pm
2nd September – Dalwallinu
Dalwallinu Hotel
7:00pm – 9:00pm
If you are in the area, please save the date and we look forward to catching up with you then.
Medical Appointments
If your son requires to attend a Medical Appointment, please liaise with the Health Centre on 08 9383 6818 or via email HealthCentre@scotch.wa.edu.au so that transport to and from the appointment is co-ordinated. If you have family or guardians available to transport your son, or if you are in Perth and would like to take your son, please let Fiona Richmond and the team of Nurses know.
Holiday Travel Arrangements for Mid Term Break
Mid term will be upon us very quickly, and your son’s leave needs to be entered into Reach.
If your son is staying with hosts or family, please ensure that their details are in Reach. If you need assistance please send an email to Jan and Michelle at ResidentialLife.Admin@scotch.wa.edu.au.
Online Medical Updates
If you have not already done so, please update your sons Medical information by going to Home.Scotch and clicking on the blue “Medical & Information” icon.